(NB: if you are wondering about Manzine's preoccupation with high-visibility clothing, see Manzine issue 1, reposted here)
William Of Orange, etc.
getting Vizzy with it!
VizFest
Manzine was intrigued, upon visting Nollendorferplatz in Berlin today, to see a veritable festival of high-visibility clothing manifest in the streets of this rather salubrious district of the German capital. There appeared to have been some sort of street festival - possibly connected to the World cup, though the volumes of gay men loitering around suggest an altogether different kind of celebration - and the numbers of orange-clad workers diligently toiled away at clearing up broken champange bottles, party detritus, fag butts and other forms of trash made Manzine wonder about the feasibility of "VizFest": a celebration for and of the ordinary working man in his highly-visible magnificence. The pictures below tell their own tale - interesting to see how some workers chose hi-viz shorts, replete with reflective strips, which are great for being visible in poor lighting during hot weather, for their duties, and also the striking resemblance between the livery of a passing Holland fan to the hi-viz uniform on show.
(NB: if you are wondering about Manzine's preoccupation with high-visibility clothing, see Manzine issue 1, reposted here)
William Of Orange, etc.
getting Vizzy with it!
(NB: if you are wondering about Manzine's preoccupation with high-visibility clothing, see Manzine issue 1, reposted here)
William Of Orange, etc.
getting Vizzy with it!
Several Notes & Intrigues without any great meaning attached to them, June 2010.
• DIY Design: Manzine was at the annual St Brides Library Conference in London last week, takling on DIY design to a group of type nuts, students and assorted deisgn-ophiles. Rob Banham’s talk on Trash Type (see here) stole the show. Meanwhile, we made this St Brides St.Ampler. The St.Ampler was distributed among the crowd and though it wasn’t intentional, its exciting mint green pastel cover stock made a pleasant complement to the copies of Pink Mince that were also scattered around the hall. More about the intriguing Pink Mince here…
• #FurtiveFeelings No. 4: Listening to “Fixing A Hole” by The Beatles while doing manual work (repairing, cleaning, tidying, fixing, baking) and drinking tea, ideally on a grey day.
• A Related matter: Why is Ringo Starr riding an exercise bike in this video for “I Feel Fine” – an early exponent of spinning and fixed-gear riding?
• Walking: Manzine walked to Teufelsberg in Berlin on a recent blazing Thursday day. This former Allied listening station on top the artificial hill built from rubble (the name means “devil’s mountain”) is falling into ruin, and it is said that David Lynch once tried to buy the complex. As fascinating to look inside the huge golf balls and speculate on what the Allies heard as it is to scan the Berlin horizon, and then wonder what people are talking about today. The weather, probably.
• In conversation with Geoff Dyer: the author is rumoured to be writing his next book about tennis, while a new anthology of his essays are due to be published later this year. His last, “Anglo-English Attitudes” is well worth tracking down, as is “The Missing Of The Somme”, which was the subject of the conversation. Above is a picture Chris Floyd took of the Royal Artillery Monument at Hyde Park Corner for Manzine No.1:
• Type News: Sam Blunden designed a book of poetry for Rick Holland. The font on the cover was hand lettered by Sam’s old man.
• War Story: Manzine contributor Stuart Griffiths is the subject of a documentary, “Isolation”, bing shown through July at www.picturehouses.co.uk. Dates: July 14 Greenwich, 15 Screen On the Green, 17, Fact Liverpool, 18 Tyneside Newcastle, JULY 19th Hyde Park Leeds, 20th York, 21st Cambrige, 22th Oxford, 27th Ritzy Brixton, August 1 Brighton.
• Big In Russia: Manzine contributor Chris Floyd was in Russia presenting a new public exhibition of his work. (see here for TV footage).
• The illustrator James Joyce has produced a pleasant iPad/iPhone app. Here it is.
• News un-flash: Manzine No.IV is in progress. Watch this space.
• Things That Sound Strangely Similar to Manzine, No.1: The Liberated Press.
The Liberated Press
Manzine No.1, 2008
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Assorted Rants & Raves, June 2010
Yeah
• These Chuck Norris "Action Jeans" (unearthed by Woz)
• Running after midnight, or before dawn
• Paulaner Salvator beer
• Playing the first game of chess you’ve played in years, and remembering what how great it is.
• Red skies in the evening.
• Red or green car shoes with white slacks
• Reading a book so enjoyable that you immediately start reading it again after finishing the last page.
• Sailor Jerry Rum
• Dogs waiting for their owners outside shops
Nah
• Zoo magazine’s 3D issue. Even when they’re plain old two-dimensional, lad mags manage to be one-dimensional.
• People who agonise about whether or not to buy an iPad. Don't bother. You know you’ll do it in the end.
• Those who refer to women as “females”. Okay, so Manzine is a fan of John Gray’s “Straw Dogs”, but come on, we’re not in a zoo here…
• Red skies in the morning
• Footballers in swimming trunks
• Falling for a "buy one, get one half price" bargains before realising it isn't much of a bargain after all.
• Realising that the World Cup would be better if the WAGs actually were there.
• People who announce that they are "offski".
• People who announce that they are "offski".
"Cheers",
Manzine
Notes & Intrigues, May 2010
• Update On Man Tea sampling: Yogi Tea’s intriguing concoction, “Man Tea” (see post below) was finally sampled, and Manzine noticed a subtle uplift in mood occasioned by the steaming infusion of ginger, carob, chicory, ginseng, aniseed, cardamom, peppermint and other herbs. Verdict? More exciting the chamomile, but not as good as the Himalaya product range which is, surely, what Hilary & Tenzing would have drunk.
• Is this the softest headline ever?
• Manzine is continually intrigued by about prospect of brand extensions – but it would appear a rival magazine have beaten us to it again, first with swimming trunks and now with these attractive boxers. Perfect for wafting around one’s summer house in Zürich on warm Saturday brunchtimes, Manzine imagines…
• Manzine is attending the annual St Bride’s Library Conference on May 27 & 28. Come along. There will be a secret summit in a nearby pub on late Friday, with the express intention of drinking beer against the prospect of turning into a Neo-Con.
• Field Notes – as stocked on the Folk Shop on Lambs Conduit Street - are a cultish alternative to the expensive and increasingly ubiquitous Moleskines. Still, Manzine suspects that the expanses of empty page can be intimidating to would-be note takers when, say, nursing a machiatto and reaching for poetic insight upon the Trastavere fountain, or perhaps attempting to pen some Iain Sinclair-style notes on the Hackney Marshes. See Manzine Issue IV, publishing in Autumn, for our feature, “Ideas On What To Write In Your Moleskine If You’re Stuck For inspiration.” Manzine’s own bulging, dog-eared Moleskine is pictured.
• The SOTO menswear store on Torstrasse, Berlin, recently produced this intriguing sticker (American readers: we mean “decals”.) In its own subtle way it expresses so much about the state of the world today, no?
• FAQNP A Queer Nerd Publication is an enjoyably oblique DIY pamphlet by Ray Cha. Where else would you get to read “An Ode To Antimorphs”? (Thanks Ray.)
• Look out for Issue IV of The Ride Journal, whose editor Philip Diprose is a contributor to our organ.
• Manzine began a series of walks through Berlin with the artist and cartographer Stephen Walter last week. Pictured is sunset over the Landwehr Kanal in Kruezberg. The walk ended at the Soviet War memorial in Treptower Park, which appeared to be a popular location for skateboarders and jump-bikers. Is it acceptable to practice urban/extreme sports at war memorials? Answers on the back of a set of Sims Pure Juice wheels...
"Man Tea" vs Rewe's 5,0 Beer
Manzine has for a while been intrigued by Yogi Tea's ayurvedic herbal infusion product line "Man Tea" (pictured). Interesting to note that brands and products rarely (these days) address male consumers directly as men. Thoughts? Email us.
It seems to work - Manzine took the initiative, on a rare visit to a Berlin organic supermarket today, to buy a packet of the tea with a view to sampling it. Nevertheless, tonight's choice of drink is the equally manful "5,0 Original" – an own-brand pilsner beer from the reputed German supermarket Rewe which, with its tastefully restrained art direction/graphic design and super low-cost price point (just 38 cents per can), could hardly be more of a wise choice for today's get-ahead Man About Town.
It seems to work - Manzine took the initiative, on a rare visit to a Berlin organic supermarket today, to buy a packet of the tea with a view to sampling it. Nevertheless, tonight's choice of drink is the equally manful "5,0 Original" – an own-brand pilsner beer from the reputed German supermarket Rewe which, with its tastefully restrained art direction/graphic design and super low-cost price point (just 38 cents per can), could hardly be more of a wise choice for today's get-ahead Man About Town.Here's is hoping the Man Tea fulfils its promise of aiding in what will be, no doubt, a man-sized hangover.
Manzine will report in full tomorrow on this interesting taste sensation/experience.
Brick Lane, Not Park Lane
A revisit to the Last Jewish Trader on Brick Lane, with some thoughts and feelings related to work, family, ambition and history. By Simmy Richman. Photography: Jean Goldsmith
He is not a man given to easy laughter, but there's one joke Leo Epstein never tires of telling. He'll have it at the ready every time a customer comes into his shop asking to see the upmarket stock: "This is Brick Lane, not Park Lane."
Should they probe further, Epstein might reveal that the word "shmatte", the trade he has been involved in for more than 50 years, roughly translates as "a rag" or "anything shabby". There's nothing shabby about a business that has looked after Epstein and his family nicely and finds him now, proudly telling anyone interested in the history of the East End, that he is the last Jewish trader in a street that was once the epicentre of London Jewry.
Epra Fabrics opened on Brick Lane in 1956. Then, there was a Jewish haberdasher on one side, a Jewish bookshop on the other, a kosher butcher here, a Yiddish theatre there, and everywhere rolls of cloth that could be measured and cut to length for anyone interested in a nice bit of shmatte to take home and turn into clothes.
Hi-Viz: Officially Trenny
Manzine always knew the fashion police would one day see sense and proclaim hi-viz workwear as the next big thing. Spotted in Berlin is this billboard for a biowaste recovery service which, with its "Trennsetter*" headline, makes explicit what many of us have long known:
Note the attractive reflective strips on the man's legs for extra visibility:
And also his up-to-the-minute walrus moustache - das ist cool, ja?
Manzine's resident Hi-Viz Man (right) comments: "being highly visible is The New Black, especially if you work in biowaste recovery management."
* NB: Trennsetter may not actually translate as "trendsetter". Can any native German speakers offer a better translation? Please email us if so.
* NB: Trennsetter may not actually translate as "trendsetter". Can any native German speakers offer a better translation? Please email us if so.
Manzine stocked at Wasted German Youth, Berlin
Visit Paul Snowden's Wasted German Youth outlet at Memhardstr. 1, Mitte, Berlin. Here's a shot of the shopfront:
Random Rants & Raves, May 2010
Yeah
• 032c issue 19, featuring William T. Vollman, Cy Twombly, attractive models and plenty lots more contemporary culture
• A Silva compass when lost in zero-visibility cloud and rain on the summit of Glyder Fach, in late April.• Meantime Belgian beer
• Rig Out, the menswear zine published though Oi Polloi (Manzine visited Manchester the other week to discuss rainwear with Steve Sanderson).
• Silk polka dots scarves, generally
• The Wasted German Youth shop on Memhardstrasse 1, Berlin
• The Bristol to Bath railway bike path
Nah
• Tour De France 2009 King Of The Mountains Franco Pelizotti's recent biopassport anomaly. Perhaps Pelizotti should read this instead, right (thanks to Johnny Deck for the find)
• Sleeping in the back seat of a car, even if it's only for a night
• Those who refer to "t'internet"
• Wondering whether imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or whether it just plain copying.• Being obliged to drink beer from plastic glasses when outside.
• Referring food and drink as "nutrition" and "hydration"
Got any more? Let us know
Adventures In Morse Code
Some interesting thoughts about an old-fashioned comms tech that was the Tw*tt*r of its day. By Nick Sullivan
Samuel Finley Breese Morse clearly missed a trick. If only he had given Harold Bride, the doomed telegraph operator on the equally doomed RMS Titanic, the wherewithal to beef up his SOS message (perhaps with an emoticon or two, maybe a smiley being eaten by a shark or treading water) then perhaps the whole dour story of the Titanic’s maiden voyage to the bottom of the North Atlantic might have been leavened a touch.
Samuel Finley Breese Morse clearly missed a trick. If only he had given Harold Bride, the doomed telegraph operator on the equally doomed RMS Titanic, the wherewithal to beef up his SOS message (perhaps with an emoticon or two, maybe a smiley being eaten by a shark or treading water) then perhaps the whole dour story of the Titanic’s maiden voyage to the bottom of the North Atlantic might have been leavened a touch.
